SPEECH 

■ by the i 

Secretary of War, Mr* Root 



Upon the Unveiling of St. Gaudens' 
Statue of General Shernian in tlie 
City of New York, May 30th, J903 



...J 



SPEECH 



BY THE 



SECRETARY OF WAR, 
Mr. root, 



UPON THE UNVEILING OF ST. GAUDENS' 

STATUE OF GENERAL SHERMAN IN THE 

CITY OF NEW YORK, MAY 30, 1903. 



WASHINGTON, D. C. : 

Gibson Bros., Pkinters and Bookbinuers. 

1903. 






D. of A*. 

;uL H 1919 



Mr. Chairman, Mr. Mayor, Fellow Citi- 
zens : 

Of all the statues with which the affec- 
tion of friends and the admiration of con- 
temporaries ai'e adorning or disfiguring the 
public places of the modern world, few will 
carry any personal meaning to future gene- 
rations, or serve to perpetuate the memory 
of the men whom they are designed to 
honor. The little great men of the hour 
pass across the stage of the world's life 
with their generations, and are forgotten. 
Neither granite shaft nor monumental 
bronze can confer upon them immortality, 
or rescue them from the individual oblivion 
which merges their achievements and their 
sacrifices into the general progress of the 
nation and the race. 

Rarely, as the centuries pass, some great 
national crisis, with the inspiration of strug- 
gle and the test of requirements beyond 
the capacity of common men, sifts the ma- 



terial of a nation, and reveals a man equal 
to great occasion ; whose deeds link his 
name forever with the decisive events 
which determine the world's progress, 
render his existence a fact of historic sig. 
nificance, and make what he was, a jiart of 
the common and familiar knowledge of 
mankind. Such a crisis was the American 
war for the Union. Such a man was Wil- 
liam Tecumseh Sherman. The tremendous 
consequence to mankind of the decision 
whether America was to be one nation or 
a group of small and discordant States, 
dimly foreseen by the men of half a century 
ago, even now only begins to be realized 
by the world, which sees looming large in 
the horizon of the future the immeasurable 
possibilities for good or evil in hundreds of 
millions of people, free, independent, self- 
governing, Avith limitless resources, with 
vital force and energy never surpassed, and 
united under one government by common 
institutions, a common sentiment of nation- 



ality, and general loyalty to the same 
ideals. 

The part that Sherman played in that 
great struggle was not merely courageous, 
loyal, devoted, brilliant. It was essen- 
tially decisive. Erase it from the pages 
of history and no human mind can divine 
how the blanks would have been filled. 
No one will dare to say another could 
have done what Sherman did. Shiloh and 
Corinth and Vicksburg and Chattanooga 
and Missionary Eidge crowned him with 
laurels. The desperate and resourceful 
campaign which ended in the capture of 
Atlanta established his place in histoiy as 
a great commander. The march from At- 
lanta to the sea, and still on from Savan- 
nah northward through the Carolinas, to 
Raleigh and the surrender of Johnston, 
ranks among the great and impressive mil- 
itary events of history. But more than all 
these, in the general maintenance and con- 
duct of the war, the powerful influence of 



6 



his militaiy genius, the strong support of 
his indomitable will, the forward impulse 
of his tremendoiis energy, the singular no- 
bility of his unselfish character, which, 
meeting like characteristics in Grant, ena- 
bled them to work together like brothers ; 
all these made the personality of Sherman 
an essentially decisive part of the great 
consummation which determined that 
America was to be free and united. We 
cannot add to his fame ; we cannot con- 
tribute to his immortality. The statue we 
raise to-day can but point future genera- 
tions to the pages of history where his 
name and deeds are imperishably recorded. 
Neither praise can set up nor detraction 
pull down the immortals in that Valhalla 
of the truly great where he has taken his 
eternal place. 

But we who knew him living can record 
our admiration and personal affection. 
We can tell those who come after us that 
not only was Sherman great but his people 



loved him. This stern and relentless mas- 
ter of horrid war had a heart as gentle 
and as tender as a woman's. The vete- 
rans who had served under his command 
came to him in after years as to a father, 
to find always open his sympathy and his 
purse. His magnanimous nature accorded 
a generous meed of praise to eveiy degree 
of merit exhibited by others associated in 
his great undertakings. He fought, not 
urged by ambition or for fame or for for- 
tune, but inspired by loyalty and love of 
country. Befoi'e Sumter was fired upon 
he declared : 

"On no earthly account will I do any 
act or think any thought hostile to or in 
defiance of the old Government of the 
United States." 

And when the great struggle was ended 
he declared: 

" War's legitimate object is more per- 
fect peace," 



8 



and turned with alacrity and gladness to 
the path of mercy and conciliation. He 
was a disciplinaiian without Iteing a mar- 
tinet, and his broad sympathies with all 
his countrymen made him the ideal com- 
mander of volunteer soldiers. In peace 
he was constantly solicitous for the adop- 
tion of measures for the future welfare 
and greatness of his country. He ui-ged 
on to success the building of the Pacific 
roads which he foresaw would pacify and 
civilize the plains and bind together oui' 
widely separated seaboards. He founded 
the Leavenworth School of Military In- 
struction, and entered actively into the 
execution of broad and far-seeing plans 
for utilizing the lessons of the Civil War 
and improving the military system of the 
country, until checked and made powerless 
by a vicious organization which now in 
this year we are happily bringing to an 
end. Every good and noble cause found 
in him encouragement and suppoi't. The 



simplicity and directness of his mind 
found a counterpart in the fearless frank- 
ness of his expression. His conversation 
and his life taught always the lessons of 
courage, of hope, of cheerfulness, and of 
light. He was free from all envy and un- 
charitableness, broad-minded, loyal and 
generous friend, good and patriotic citizen, 
honorable gentleman. Again and again 
he put the Presidency away from him, and 
chose rather the independence and dig- 
nity of citizenship than the honors of liigh 
office which could add nothing to his lau- 
rels. 

Many of us remember the charm and 
beauty of his declining years ; when he had 
come to the time when men begin to live 
over in memory the stirring scenes of their 
youth ; when he was wont to seek a famil- 
iar corner in the old club-house below us 
on this avenue — the club formed to sup- 
port him in the great conflict — and there to 
discourse with his friends, with quaint 



10 



wisdom and genial humor and many a 
brilliant flash of insight, upon the days that 
were passed. Enjoying life to the end, 
amid universal respect and affection, secure, 
in the consciousness of great deeds done, 
he rested here in peaceful and honored age. 
It is a fitting and a happy thing that here, 
too, the genius of the great sculptor wlio 
owns this city as his home, should make 
imperishable l")y his art this silent witness 
to the honor that we and our children shall 
ever pay to Sherman, the soldier, the patriot 
and the friend. 



LIBRARY OF CONGREs" 
007 586 964 2iL 




